Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Victims of Enforced Disappearances are often people who are arrested, detained or abducted against their will.

The International human rights law defines an "enforced disappearance" as--"when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts, with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law." But the common people understand that in a simple way: People literally disappear, from their loved ones and their community, when state officials grab them from the street or from their homes and then deny it. It is a crime under international law. In recent years there have also been an alarming number of acts by non-state actors, including armed extremist and terrorist groups. Victims of enforced disappearances are deprived of their liberty, and seldom released alive. The United Nations (UN), Amnesty International and some other human rights organizations observe the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30 each year.